Announcement

Collapse

have a good weekend everyone

Spring is on the way!
See more
See less

"The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

    Our next Book Club title is as above.

    There's no particular time limit - just enjoy while we're still enduring dark evenings and grey, chilly days.

    It's on Kindle for £4.99, paperback £6.29



    Sue Monk Kidd's internationally bestselling first novel THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES has delighted many millions of readers around the world. 'Charming, funny, moving' The Times; 'A wonderful book, by turns sad, full of incident and shot through with grown-up magic reminiscent of Joanne Harris' Daily Telegraph

    Lily has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four. She not only has her own memory of holding the gun, but her father's account of the event. Now fourteen, she yearns for her mother, and for forgiveness. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her father, she has only one friend: Rosaleen, a black servant whose sharp exterior hides a tender heart. South Carolina in the sixties is a place where segregation is still considered a cause worth fighting for.

    When racial tension explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily is compelled to act. Fugitives from justice and from Lily's harsh and unyielding father, they follow a trail left by the woman who died ten years before. Finding sanctuary in the home of three beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world, as about the mystery surrounding her mother.



    "Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognise how good things really are. "

    (Marianne Williamson)

    #2
    Thank you Daisy. I read it a few months ago, and enjoyed it. I will read it again so I can join in with the discussion.
    “A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty.” – Unknown

    Comment


      #3
      I've just downloaded it onto my Kindle, and am looking forward to starting it.

      I really enjoyed reading The Help (which I think we had as a Book Club choice some time ago), and this looks as though it may be against a similar background. I have a friend who grew up in that part of the world and has talked quite a bit about the struggle for racial equality, and what it was like to be part of that time.

      "Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognise how good things really are. "

      (Marianne Williamson)

      Comment


        #4
        I've just downloaded it too. I haven't used my Kindle for ages and the battery was as dead as a Dodo.

        Comment


          #5
          Clover - thanks. That's reminded me that I need to charge mine as well.
          "Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognise how good things really are. "

          (Marianne Williamson)

          Comment


            #6
            I have downloaded it onto my Audible, so hope to join in this time.
            What is life if full of care we have no time to stand and stare

            Comment


              #7
              Plant - that's lovely, I'm really pleased and hope you enjoy it. I've nearly finished the book I'm reading at the moment so I'm going to read it next - looking forward to it.
              "Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognise how good things really are. "

              (Marianne Williamson)

              Comment


                #8
                Will start this next week, haven't much chance to read at the moment. Daisy I have The Help on my kindle, but haven't read it yet so I think that will be next on my list.
                "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." - Dr Seuss

                Comment


                  #9
                  Enfys - I really enjoyed The Help!

                  How is everyone getting on with "The Secret Life of Bess"? I'm about half way through, but I'll save my comments for the Discussion thread when we start that off.

                  "Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognise how good things really are. "

                  (Marianne Williamson)

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I am going to (re ) read this soon. I will rhen make some notes - before I forget it LOL. I want to post my comments before I go on holiday
                    “A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty.” – Unknown

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I am on the last chapter which I will finish tonight. I am listening to it on Audible.
                      What is life if full of care we have no time to stand and stare

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I've only just started it! Enjoying it again and look forward to hearing all your thoughts.
                        "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." - Dr Seuss

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I will start it tonight as we seem to be ready
                          “A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty.” – Unknown

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I've just finished it.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              WARNING DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED, OR EVEN STARTED!

                              I have finished reading this. I read it last year. If anything I think I enjoyed it more the second time/ I am keen to read something else by this author.

                              The theme of bees, and communities, and sisterhood and the importance of a mother or substitute mother figure in the bee and human worlds runs strongly throughout the book, and I noticed it more the second time of reading.

                              I loved the characters of Lily, Rosaleen and August so much. Hard to say who I liked the most. There was so much to admire in all their characters.
                              I felt that the story and characters gripped me from the beginning of this book..
                              Throughout the book Lily's guilt about her supposed killing, as a small child of her mother , and her indifferent and often cruel treatment at the hands of her father, leave her searching for love and acceptance, and some sort of parenting.
                              This she finds initially in Rosaleen, and later in August, and the rest of the Sisters. As well as being mothered by August and the others, Lily eventually learns, from August that there are many ways to be loved and healed. Through her religion, in the form of the virgin Mary, worshipped by the Sisters, and from within Lily herself.

                              I felt this was very loving book, despite some cruelty both in the form of racism and from Lily's father, love is the overriding sense of this book.
                              I felt sorry that Lily didn't in the end discover that she wasn't responsible for her mothers death (although we do not know for sure that she was)
                              Lily had found a way to forgive herself, for what she didn't mean to do and as child can not have known she had done anyway ,and to forgive her father and her mother, and move on in life.
                              I like Lily a lot, and hope for only good things for the character throughout her life.

                              I found it interesting when Lily first encountered a form of racism against herself. She was surprised that a white person could be discriminated against, which was I'm sure a commonly held opinion. She felt
                              happy and accepted when she became one of them not the white person. Lily really got a taste of life for a black person in a predominantly white world.

                              “A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty.” – Unknown

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X